I mean toxic masculinity was a thing back then for sure. So it checks out.
If I had to imagine the origins of something as disgusting as beer it would probably start in a tribe, or a village of sorts.
Some dude is getting bullied constantly because he's not masculine enough. He hasn't killed a bear with his bare hands or some shit.
So as a practical joke, a couple of dudes are like "let's make the most disgusting drink in history and have him drink it as a faux test of masculinity"
They give him the drink "come on, it's super tasty, everyone is doing it", they say as they're winking at each other.
The poor guy doesn't want to be weak so he pretends he likes it. He downs the whole barrell! These dudes can't believe it. And they decide not to tell him the truth in fear he'll become super depressed.
So he starts drinking that shit all the time, and when he travels elsewhere he brings a barrel with hi self. He starts giving it to people with the same "masculinity" story and everyone pretends to enjoy it.
And the stuff spreds like wildfire. And that'a how the world was tricked into drinking beer.
Typing this on my phone sorry for any errors.